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“The Best of the North Coast” Redux

It’s that time of year again. I just now noticed that the Times-Standard always posts it’s “Best” list on April Fool’s Day. Good move.

This year’s list didn’t have any major gaffes like last years (darn) which proclaimed the STILL unfinished Holiday Inn on Broadway in Eureka as one of the winners. There were a few surprises. Porter Street BBQ won over Humboldt Smoke House, which surprised me, and I thought the Banana Hut was an excellent choice for Best Business Lunch- good food and you can walk to it from anywhere downtown. I don’t agree that Ramone’s is the best bakery although they’re certainly among the most expensive. I’m a Cherry Blossom fan, myself.

Hole-in-the-Wall, the Hunan in Henderson Center, Brick & Fire, and Bob’s Footlong’s (Fortuna) all got their props. Happy Donuts, next to the new VA office, won for Best Donuts, but they really should have won for “Best Cheap Lunch”. They have a platter with three spring rolls with dipping sauce for $4.99 and if you don’t like cilantro you can call the night before and they’ll make you a cilantro-less version and set it aside for you. The donuts are pretty good, too.

I DO find it hard to believe that Shamus T Bone’s steaks beat out the AA’s. That will bear investigating.

But the prize for “Most Ironic” choice is The Works as favorite source for CD’s/Records/Tapes. The beloved store has lost much of its business since the move to larger quarters on “C” Street and is in a precarious situation. So go down there and BUY something if you want your favorite to survive. Support ALL our local businesses with your wallets, not just your admiration. Admiration don’t pay the bills.

8 thoughts on ““The Best of the North Coast” Redux”

The Works!!!! Yes, support your local independent record store. I am currently in southern England and not sure how I came across this site but even though I have been gone for 20 years having grown up in Eureka just the thought of a Hole in the Wall sandwich makes my mouth water. Not to mention the countless hours I spent in The Works! The last of the best record stores on the planet.

Your post made my day! I’m heading down to the Works later to pick up a special order, a Fred Neil recording. Hole in the Wall is still going strong and every time I travel I keep looking for a better place than Eureka but haven’t found one yet. Come back and visit us!

Howdy! Do you know if they make any plugins to assist with SEO?
I’m trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not seding very good results.
If you know of any please share. Cheers!

Sorry for the delay in responding, you email slipped past me.There are various plugins that are supposed to help with SEO but I haven’t found them relevant because my blog is so local-oriented that trolling for hits all over the planet just doesn’t seem like a reasonable strategy in my case. You might want to hire a consultant on a short-term basis, and for general tech stuff I have found that my local university is a good source of tech help, usually in the $20-$40 an hour range. Watch out for the guys that want to do everything for you (website, marketing plan etc.) They’ll soak you for $2500. I just noticed you’re using Facebook? I don’t know if any WordPress plugins work with Facebook. Suggest you dump facebook unless you’re using it as a supplement to a real website. Beset of luck to you.

I’ve always wondered how many people bother voting in the BONC. I actually e-mailed the Times- Standard this time when they were doing the polling and asked if they could give me a rough idea of how many people mail in votes. Hundreds? Thousands? Tens of thousands? They never replied.
I always send mine in but only vote in a few categories.

Good for you for doing that. I suspect we’ll never know the true figures, which robs the listing of all credibility. At least this year everyone they honored was open for business. This list is basically a vehicle for selling advertising, but you knew that.

Those things are prone to businesses, or their friends, making an effort to get out the vote. I know I got some ballots that we didn’t fill out and gave them to a local business owner to give to her customers. She wanted to see if she could win. Her efforts were for naught as she didn’t make it.

I’m still curious how many people participate? I’m not sure I know anyone who fills out the ballots. The wife was reluctant to add her input. I don’t get around much so asked her to make some choices. It was like pulling teeth!

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